The Brooks Review

Year: 2012

  • ‘Finally’

    Samantha Grossman:
    >Thank goodness someone has finally invented a product that allows you to sit back, spray some liquid into your mouth and bam! — instant drunken stupor.

    I mean, *finally*.

    [via The Speed]

  • Enhanced

    Ryan Kim:
    >After Color’s much publicized flop last year, it would seem unlikely that anyone would look to the company as a big-time partner. But that’s just what Verizon Wireless plans to do. It will offer its customers the chance to use an enhanced version of Color, which will enable live video streaming with audio for the first time and double the existing frame rate.

    You know, looking back at it, I probably would been obsessed with Color if I had only had the “enhanced” version…

  • Amazon Item of the Week: Wenger Fidis Camping Lighter

    I saw this lighter in an issue of Backpacker magazine and immediately ordered it based only on it’s looks. I actually didn’t read much up on it, as Backpacker only had a small blurb.

    When I got the lighter I was pretty shocked, it isn’t a butane lighter — the Fidis uses old-school lighter fluid. I actually had to go buy some. So to compare I also fueled up my Zippo.

    They don’t compare. I think the Zippo has a bigger flame and the Zippo holds a lot more lighter fluid, but these are two very different lighters.

    Both are wind proof, as evidenced by testing them with the Dyson AirBlade blowing on them both and lighting under those full-speed conditions. The Fidis, however, also has two other really cool things that make it great for a week long hiking excursion.

    The Fidis has a lighter fluid reservoir that you can use to store refill fluid and thus refill the lighter without having to pack in a separate container. There is also no shortage of extra flints sized for the lighter stored in the lighter as well. These little things add up to a really nice camping lighter, one that makes a good effort to make sure it is all you may need on the trail — especially for shorter outings.

    You won’t be melting plastic like you do with a butane lighter, but it is a really nice lighter that should get the job done.

    Oh and I should say: it is built like a tank. The entire lighter feels solid, much better feel than a Zippo.

  • Lion Login Passwords Exposed in Clear Text

    I don’t agree with the asstastic headline chosen over at ZDnet, but this is a real problem. Interestingly FileVault 2 users remain unaffected (I have been using FileVault 2 for a long time — works well).

  • Instacast 2.0

    A great app that I use all the time. I have been testing the new version for a while now and it has been absolutely great. One of the many neat new features is the podcast-by-podcast settings that you can change. Meaning I can tell Instacast to always download The B&B Podcast and never download some other ones.

    Great up, also read the post to see the new pricing structure if you have been holding off on a purchase of the app.

  • Mahdi Yusuf’s Four Weeks With DuckDuckGo

    A very fair take of Google versus DuckDuckGo. For me it’s a no-brainer because I can’t stand Google’s privacy “issues”. However I do know that for many, DuckDuckGo isn’t “there” quite yet.

    What I want to point out is that making the switch from Google to DuckDuckGo takes a big adjustment. DuckDuckGo is not trying to be Google, therefore it does things very differently.

    Most of us are so used to Google that we subconsciously work around the flaws in the product. We have trained ourselves to ignore sponsored results, plus one bullshit, and all the other stuff Google throws our way.

    I recently moved all my iOS devices to using Bing, and it wasn’t as huge of an adjustment because Microsoft is trying to make Bing as close to Google as they can. If you want a Google clone to get away from Google, go with Bing — if you want something new, go with DuckDuckGo.

  • ‘Bill to Ban Lap Dogs Unleashes Fight’

    I’ve never once understood how it is legal to let a dog walk around on your lap, but completely illegal to eat while you drive. I am not saying that we should go out and enforce dogs be in special seats with seat belts, but I think you are damned fool to allow a dog to walk around on your lap while you drive.

    Speaking of dogs and damned fools, [did you know Chicago wants to make it perfectly A-OK to allow dogs in restaurants](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/04/chicago-dog-friendly-rest_n_1477714.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003)? Guess I can scratch Chicago off the list of places I want to ever eat at.

  • ‘Shipments Are Not Sales’

    Stephen Baker, Vice President, Industry Analysis for NPD:

    >Shipments are not sales, seems like a pretty simple concept to grasp, but it’s apparent from the hysteria that has erupted over IDC’s release of their Q1 tablet shipment data that most of the blogosphere still doesn’t get the difference.

    His entire post explains how shipments are a meaningless number and how sales are really important. Baker seems to be condemning people who say that Kindle Fire sales are not good because they shipped far less in Q2 than Amazon did in Q1.

    This is funny to me because a [quick search of “npd shipments”](http://www.bing.com/search?q=npd+shipments&form=APIPA1) shows you just how much NPD reports about shipment numbers…

  • The Wrong Reasons

    Mike Masnick on all the Internet privacy legislation:

    >It’s bizarre and troubling that no one in the federal government seems willing to provide a real justification for any of these bills others than “oooooh, it’s scary out there on the internet!!”

  • Samsung’s Niche

    The Macalope:

    >Samsung has something for every niche need. Well, except the niche for the best all-around smartphone with a terrific user experience. That was taken by another company.

  • iOS App Success

    Fantastic post by Chris Foresman looking at the App Store and the success that a select few developers have had. Spoiler: being in the top charts is where the money is.

  • Adam Yauch • 1964-2012

    The Beastie Boys official site on the passing of Adam Yauch:

    >Born in Brooklyn, New York, Yauch taught himself to play bass in high school, forming a band for his 17th birthday party that would later become known the world over as Beastie Boys.

  • Agile Tortoise

    My thanks to Agile Tortoise for sponsoring this week’s RSS Feed to promote the excellent Drafts app for iPhone. It’s one of those apps that immediately clear out room in your iPhone dock for — at least I did.

    It’s $0.99, and that’s about $20 too cheap.

  • Ski Safari

    I love this game because it’s fun and you can play it with one hand (the baby is often in the other). Can’t quite get to Kottke’s high score, yet.

  • FBI: We Need Wiretap-Ready Web Sites

    Declan McCullagh:
    >The FBI general counsel’s office has drafted a proposed law that the bureau claims is the best solution: requiring that social-networking Web sites and providers of VoIP, instant messaging, and Web e-mail alter their code to ensure their products are wiretap-friendly.

    The argument seems to be that as people make the move to digital communication tools, away from telephones, that the FBI cannot monitor those tools. Since the FBI has access to monitor telephones, they only think it natural to ask for these backdoors to be built in.

    I see where they are coming from, it’s just that it is completely wrong headed.

    “Luckily” it looks like there is a loophole:

    >The requirements apply only if a threshold of a certain number of users is exceeded, according to a second person briefed on it.

    There’s a business opportunity: create an secure email service that users must pay for that stays below that threshold. I mean it’s not like terrorists or your general “bad guy” would use such unmonitored services.

    Basically this law allows the government to monitor stupid criminals, but not the really smart ones that pose the most damage.

  • Jenna Wortham: What I Read

    Adam Clark Estes profiles Jenna Wortham on how she goes about news consumption during the day:
    >I avoiding spending a lot of time in my inbox — it’s the equivalent quicksand — so instead, I keep an eye on the emails to address anything urgent that comes in and make a list of people to reply to via email during a late-afternoon coffee break or before bed at the end of the night. My best sources know that text and DM are the easiest and most surefire ways to get in touch and get a response.

    It’s also fascinating how huge Twitter his to her daily routine — me, I’m still an RSS guy.

  • What Retail Is Hired to Do: Apple vs. IKEA

    Horace Dediu and Dirk Schmidt:
    >Apple offers a place where people can discover and get answers about technology without the pressure of making a purchase. The job is to simplify that which is complex for a price premium.

    Well said. Going to an Apple store is like no other store experience that most people have had. Not only are the staff friendly, but [they trust you](https://brooksreview.net/2011/12/trust-respect/).

  • Mariano Rivera Out for Season With Torn ACL

    I’m not a Yankees fan, but you’d be [hard pressed to find a baseball fan that doesn’t enjoy](http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/poll-the-most-respected-athlete-of-all-time/) watching Rivera work, just look at his stats as reported by Dave Cameron:
    >Among relievers with at least 500 career innings, Rivera’s 2.05 ERA is easily the best ever.

    Let’s hope this isn’t the end of a spectacular career.

  • iPad Keyboard Prototype [Video]

    This video has been making the rounds. It shows an *improved* method for selecting text on the iPad. I think it looks really neat, but the call for Apple to add it as a feature is pretty misguided if you ask me.

    If you think about iOS — this would be a very poor feature for the general iOS user base. The reasons are the same as why Apple doesn’t make the multi-touch app switching gestures readily public, it’s not discoverable or memorable for normal users.

    Imagine what would happen if a user slid two fingers along the keyboard accidentally and then started typing. Oops. While this system is certainly better than what is currently on iOS, it would also lead to much user confusion. That alone is reason enough to not add it in iOS.

  • Updated Thoughts on the Panasonic GX1

    [When I purchased and reviewed the Panasonic GX1](https://brooksreview.net/2012/03/gx1/), I left out one crucial reason behind my decision for buying this particular camera: I knew I had a baby girl on the way. I wanted a camera that was small enough to hold in one hand and snap a picture ((Yes I can shoot my Canon 5D one handed, but it’s less than ideal to do so.)) , yet high enough quality to not make me regret leaving behind my dSLR.

    Asleep on Mom.

    I also wanted a camera that could take excellent pictures at high ISO, relatively quietly, so that I could snap those precious “sleeping baby” photos.

    That was a huge factor in my choosing the GX1.

    Even without a baby, I have found the GX1 to be a phenomenal camera, one that has seriously made me consider selling off my Canon 5D and the lenses that go along with it — just maybe not quite yet.

    When my daughter was born I almost immediately started snapping images with the GX1, my wife uses it too. It’s been a fantastic camera for us.

    Sloane with Grandpa.

    I was worried that the 20mm might be too limiting for indoor shots of a baby, but it’s turned out to be perfect — and thank goodness it is an f/1.7 lens, because low-light shooting is all I seem to do any more.

    Which brings me to ISO and noise. I don’t think I have shot many pictures below ISO 1600 with the GX1 since Sloane came along. In fact I have gone up to 6400 and beyond more than a few times. While 6400 isn’t as clean as I dream that it should be, it’s still a good enough picture that I can be happy looking at it.

    Also a quick noise reduction in Lightroom yields very satisfactory results ((The noise reduction engine in Lightroom is the primary reason I use Lightroom over Aperture.)) .


    I simply cannot say enough good things about the GX1. It has been rock solid. Battery life has been fantastic. The quality is excellent. The noise control is very good.

    I truly love this camera.

    Sloane with Mom.

    I did notice right away that with a baby around, I needed a strap on the camera so that I can attend to her when she needs me, without trying to find a good spot to set the camera down at.

    At [Justin Blanton’s recommendation](http://hypertext.net/2012/04/dsptch) I ordered both the [wrist strap](http://www.dsptch.com/collections/wrist/products/camera-wrist-strap-black) and [sling strap](http://www.dsptch.com/collections/sling/products/camera-sling-strap-black) from DSPTCH and have been quite happy with them. The way that both clip on to the camera makes it really easy to switch to the wrist strap when at home and the sling strap when out and about.

    My wife and I tend to leave the GX1 on the coffee table in the living room, and even though it is a longer reach than our iPhones, we tend to go for the GX1 first when we want to shoot a photo. And that right there perfectly sums up why I am so happy with the GX1: I choose it over the more readily available iPhone camera every chance I get.